Injuries & Horses... They kind of come together one way or another. It's not a factor of IF but WHEN, because almost every horse has a moment in life when they get an injury or scratch one way or another.

I bring this subject up today because a couple weeks ago Ike came up with an cut on his left shoulder swollen clear up and he was hardly using his leg for walking.

It's hard to see with dun and shadows but it was a pretty good injury. For a day and a half I out done ointment on it and water hoping it'd help and a vet wouldn't need to involved (Lord knows they cost a penny or two). We'll this all started on a Saturday and by Monday there was no difference so we have a tetanus shot and a antibiotic shot everyday for five days. The very next day the swelling was better and it was draining pretty good. By day three he was finally starting to use his leg more thank goodness. I was hoping we weren't dealing with a shoulder bone problem. Day five came around for his final dose and he was using his leg perfectly and on day six both horses back at it playing and running around just fine.

Thank goodness because I didn't want have a lame horse all summer that I can't ride.

Below are drainage pictures on day three or four.

A little blurry but it gives you a good idea on not trying to close up every cut because injuries like this need to be able to drain. This relieves pressure from swelling and allows infection to be drained out so healing can continue faster.

The pictures look pretty nasty and the drainage isn't pretty I'll admit. I would run water on it to wash some stuff off and keep the opening cleaned off as best I could. On day six I used soap and a metal curry come to get all chunks of dried drainage off and clean everything up real good and then put ointment on it for the next few days. By the middle of the next week the cut was completely closed up from healing good and all that's left is to make sure he's healed up properly before I begin riding again.

I've been through many horse cuts and injuries and vet calls so I knew we could handle this without calling the vet. If he had contued to favor that leg for the remaining of the treatment I would have called the vet to get an evaluation for further bone or joint damage. Luckily I didn't have to. But I do recommend to others to call your veterinarian first thing to get a proper diagnoses and treatment started before it's too late to heal things to your best capability.

Soon I will have more articles on the 21 Steps To Broke for you to read up on and continue the training with your own horses.

Until then I bid you good times and good rides with my farwell 'til next time.

Nicole Johannsen

Hello, and welcome to Buckeye Valley Training. We're located in Gibbon, Nebraska. For years now I have been involved in different aspects with horses including riding lessons, training and colt starting. Join me today for training techniques and more!